A convoluted 'literacy' test for blacks

5:56 PM,
Jul. 5, 2013

Written by

Rebecca Onion
| Slate

The recent Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder overturned Section 4(b) of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which mandated federal oversight of changes in voting procedure in jurisdictions that have a history of using a "test or device" to impede enfranchisement.

After the end of the Civil War, would-be black voters in the South faced an array of disproportionate barriers to enfranchisement. The literacy test - supposedly applicable to both white and black prospective voters who couldn't prove a certain level of education but in actuality disproportionately administered to ...